Cutting Grass, Cutting Weight!

As spring prepares for its curtain call, and summer formulates its entrance, now is the perfect time to get out and transform our yards, and our minds and bodies as well. Gardening and yard work has a positive effect not only on our physical health, but our mental health as well. The natural rhythms of wildlife, green flora, and the recurring, calming nature of most gardening undertakings are all sources of trouble-free focus. Mostly yard work is regarded as an imposition, nonetheless mowing, weeding, planting, and other outdoor tasks can be advantageous for our health. When we sit in a cubicle under artificial light all day, there’s something about being in the warm sun, putting our hands in the dirt, and constructing something that’s beautiful. Gardening gets us out in the fresh air, and it also gets our blood moving. Many of us who garden view our hobby as the perfect remedy to the chaos the world sometimes offers. Yard work also acts as a total-body workout. As we stretch to push a mower or brighten up our flowerbeds, our muscle fibers and tendons extend and blood flow is increased. Regular yard work can help keep our bodies mobile and flexible. Gardening as a form of exercise is one that doesn’t involve a gym affiliation or gear. Our equipment can be found in the garage in the form of gardening tools such as rakes, hoes, mowers, wheelbarrows, clippers, shovels, and watering cans.

Our gym is the outdoors, encircled by nature. Yard work involves our whole body working, which means we get a complete body workout while developing strength and fitness. When applied on a regular basis exercising in the garden gives all of our major muscle groups a good workout including our legs, arms, buttocks, stomach, neck, and back. Yard work is also an excellent source of cardiovascular exercise. Any undertaking that keeps our heart rate raised for a continued stage of time, such as spreading grass seed or hauling mulch in a wheelbarrow, can help support our heart, boost blood flow, and improve our bodies ability to distribute oxygen to working muscles. Mowing, and walking around the yard can increase our heart rate and tone our bodies. There are lots of gardening chores that can burn fat, and if we’re able to burn off more calories than we consume, weight loss should come with ease. 300 calories an hour can be burned just by gardening, yard work, like raking and pruning, can burn close to 200 calories. Modest gardening tasks such as tilling, digging, planting, and weeding can burn up to 200 calories. We can easily spend 30 – 45 minutes out in our yard arranging our flower beds and cutting grass to help reach our weekly physical activity objectives. Simply put, gardening is exercise that has context. Not only can we burn calories, but also in the end we’ll have a beautiful landscape to show for it.

Physical activity has been considered effective in overseeing stress levels and can take our mind off of our worries, improving mental fitness allowing us to better focus on the task at hand. Yard work doesn’t only affect our physical fitness but can also have a positive impact on our mental and emotional being as well. When we perform yard work, our bodies discharge chemicals called endorphins, a kind of “feel-good” compound in our brains that promote an optimistic attitude on life. Yard work also means more time in the sun, and exposure to vitamin D (aka “the sunshine vitamin”) from sunlight, which is an excellent antidepressant and helps decrease our stress hormones. Gardening helps lower blood pressure as we get out and leave our worries behind while we feel the dirt between our fingers and inhale fresh air. Stress seems to melts away as we exercise our creative side by designing and planning our plot layout. An enduring sense of accomplishment and satisfaction is the result of creating and preserving our garden space. Putting our hands in the earth is therapeutic. Being outside hearing the birds singing is relaxing and will help us to decompress. Plus, we’ll feel accomplished after sitting back and admiring our work.

The health benefits linked with vegetable gardening are due to the ability for us to raise our own natural nourishment. People who grow food are more inclined to eat healthy. Research shows gardeners eat more fruits and vegetables than their peers. Studies of after-school programs have indicated that children who are introduced to gardening are likely to eat more fruits and vegetables, and are more exploratory when it comes to giving new foods a try. When we grow our own herbs, fruits and vegetables, we know exactly what’s been done to it. The food we grow ourselves is the freshest and healthiest food we can consume. We don’t need a big backyard or a green thumb to benefit from gardening. If we have a little space or/and know-how, we can start out with just a few houseplants, or even try gardening in containers. We can grow breathtaking cherry tomatoes in nothing more than a five-gallon container, or small pots of fresh herbs in a window seal.

Gardening has long been one of the fastest growing hobbies for the past few years. Other than adding beauty and value to our home’s as well as providing a great creative outlet, there are some really great fitness and health reasons to get out and dig in the dirt. Adding years of wholesome health to our lives may be as easy as mowing the lawn and planting roses. And as a plus, not only is yard work and gardening fun and relaxing, there’s no diet program to follow. We’re simply just out under the blue sky doing what we already love and what comes natural.